They started off invading construction sites in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), demanding 30% of the contract work. Then it spread to Gauteng, and has now gone countrywide. The tactic is working, and many contractors simply pay off the gangs rather than have building work disrupted. Sometimes they employ the locals, often at extortionate rates. They became known as the construction mafia, though they prefer to be called business forums. The business model is so successful that it is being replicated across the country in different sectors of the economy, as local community…
Read MoreDay: Sep 17, 2019
New technology extinguishes demand for coal-fired powe
CAPE TOWN – South African coal exports are approaching long-term decline, according to an Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) report released on Monday. IEEFA energy finance analyst Simon Nicholas said the sector needed to come to terms with the prospect of fading demand from its major export destinations. “Policy makers in South Africa need to prepare for the ongoing technology driven transition away from coal or face the inevitable social and economic consequences,” said Nicholas. “It won’t happen overnight, but key trends in global markets show new…
Read MoreOil declines as market assesses attacks on Saudi facilities
INTERNATIONAL – Oil dropped on Tuesday although the market remains on tenterhooks over the threat of a military response to attacks on Saudi Arabian crude oil facilities that cut the kingdom’s output in half and sent prices soaring by the most in decades. The Saturday attack raised the prospect of a major supply shock in a market that in recent months had focussed on demand concerns due to the erosion of global growth amid the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute. Saudi Arabia is the world’s top oil exporter and has…
Read MoreProudly SA: Creating employment in SA through re-industrialisation
JOHANNESBURG – Last week we joined Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev)/(SAB Breweries) on a trip to the Free State to celebrate and visit one of the companies that has come through its Enterprise and Supplier Development programme and entered its supply chain. Kevali Chemicals, manufacturer of waste-water treatment solutions, sanitation, cleansing and detergent products as well as adhesives, is located in Harrismith. The company’s success comes as a result of a combination of commercial decisions and economic conditions that conspired to put them on a significant growth path, enabling them to…
Read MoreThe changing face of digital payments
JOHANNESBURG – Around the world there is growing, collective consensus that digital disruptions will continue as old ways of doing business are fast being ditched, and new ways are being adapted across industries. Industries such transport, accommodation, print media, television and dining, have all seen disruptions that were not really expected to take off at such speed two decades ago. Now these industries are playing catch up, with some winning and others struggling to keep their heads above the water. What has been noteworthy is the advent of the democratisation…
Read More22 On Sloan: Innovative start-ups show sky’s the limit
JOHANNESBURG – According to a 2018 World Bank report, 66 percent of sub-Saharan Africans are unbanked. Financial inclusion remains elusive in Africa and most times access to it for micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMMEs) remain a key challenge for these to scale. In South Africa, where various studies have identified racial-profiling as one of the impediments for the previously disadvantaged, raising funding remains a thorny issue. Last year, we collaborated with the World Bank to do research on SME finance gaps in South Africa and the result deepened our understanding…
Read MoreClover, Milco merger puts 657 jobs on the line
JOHANNESBURG – A total of 657 existing jobs will be on the line at Clover Industries in the next two years if the R4.8 billion merger between the JSE-listed dairy company and Israel-based Milco is approved by the Competition Tribunal. These were the final figures submitted by Clover to the tribunal yesterday as the group made additional submissions in the hearing of its proposed merger with Milco. In July, the Competition Commission recommended that the proposed large merger be approved with conditions, especially those relating to employment and local procurement. Milco…
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